So take the knife, put your thumb and index finger on either side with the web of your hand on the blunt side of the knife with the sharp side away from you. Squeeze the back of the pit and it should pop right off.

Some places do but swipe and sign is still pipular here. Chip and tap are catching on but most places have all 3

Yeah, I actually just started looking at running windows in a containet on Linux and then using RDP, hopefully I’ll get a chance to play with it this week… would let me run windows things without rebooting!

Yeah, I’ve tried it and it kindof worked last I tried. I had an issue where the browser in the upper left just wouldn’t expand and it keeps giving me warnings about direct x expiring. I was hoping to use it but I don’t know if Fusion on Wine is really ready for prime time. :(

Oh, I’ve been a Linux user for a long time, mostly on the server, not as a Desktop. Unfortunately Fusion 360 kindof runs under wine but not really so it’s still the one thing I have to reboot for.

The big thing for me is a hotkey which launches a window I can put in an application (partial is fine) or command and it starts or runs the command… so I do <Ctrl>+<Space>dark and it launches darktable. You can also have plugins that do things. So for example, after I upload my .torrent files, I delete them locally. So I have a rm command which just runs rm ~/Downloads/*.torrent.

Yes, I could click on the menu, type in the command I’m looking for but this is a little quicker. Plugins also allow you to do complicated tasks quickly.

I dunno, I’ve gotten used to it.

Seriously, Ubuntu used to be my goto distro but Canonical’s shenanigans have caused me to look elsewhere. So far I’m liking OpenSUSE tumbleweed.

Seriously, I thought I’d need to install something or configure something, nope, one toggle in Steam. I think everyone who uses Steam and Linux should know about this!

Yeah, I’m just so used to Fusion that it’s hard for me to make the switch. I’m probably going to get tired of rebooting and start looking at FreeCAD 1.0.

Taco Tuesday… on a Wednesday!

I read 1984… I really liked it but I thought the whole war is peace, freedom is slavery bit was something that no one would really buy. Then Trump took office and I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. I now believe 1984 and don’t question it at all. :(

I’m not really pro-china on much of anything but I agree with them on this. Trump’s tariff’s are bullshit and he should be called out on them.

Most (all?) of the board game manufacturing is done in China. The equipment to make the boards is all made in China. Even if manufacturers wanted to manufacture in the US or elsewhere, they would have to import the equipment in from China which would be subject to tariffs and be a significant up front cost.

A lot of manufacturers have come out and said this will be bad for the industry as a whole. Underdog games is already having layoffs, Final Frontier Games is shutting down and is blaming CMON as the final nail in the coffin. I don’t think they were doing well in the first place but I’m sure tariffs didn’t help.

Sleeve Kings has an interesting article on the tariffs which claim 70% of their business is US based and 100% of their manufacturing is done in China. Their tariffs went from 0% in December to currently 104%. Stonemaier games has a good article called The Math of Tariffs which outlines a lot of issues. Cephalofair Games has a good article on backerkit titled Tariffs & Tabletop.

There’s so many articles like this, I could go on but I think you get the point. The US is a huge market and costs in the US are going to rise or people aren’t even going to try. A lot of board games are already expensive, slap a tariff on them and they are out of reach for a lot of people and they will look elsewhere. And all this is just on manufacturing, this isn’t even starting on what’s going on with local retailers.

This will also affect people outside of the US because the US is such a huge market. I think initially you might see shipments destined for the US go elsewhere to avoid the tariffs but then things will start to dry up.

I hope these tariffs go away but if they don’t, I think you’ll see the used market increase. Personally I have a big wall of shame so I have a bunch of games I’ve never played so sitting out the next 4 years shouldn’t be a problem for me but I don’t think I’ll like what happens on the other side of things.

There’s a whole darknet diaries episode 153: Bike Index where he basically talks about stolen bikes being sold on Facebook and Facebook doesn’t seem to care. They can’t get the facebook pages shut down and this guy continues to sell stolen bikes on Facebook.

This is sure to help food prices go down! /s

Hearing Protection, eye protection, extra magazines (I’d recommend having at least 4 total), a cleaning kit, a discrete range bag to hold everything along with the extra ammo and a safe. Also a good holster if you plan on conceal carry (check your local laws around this) I personally prefer appendix carry but there are a lot of options here. Some guns will allow you to mount a light which can be nice for a home defense gun but I find them a little bulky for carry. However, I usually have a flashlight in my pocket and there are some good grips you can utilize: https://www.usacarry.com/flashlight-shooting-techniques/ with a standalone flashlight.

Optionally they have things that will make loading magazines easier which is optional but they are usually pretty inexpensive and if you plan on a big range day, they can just make your life a little easier. It’s absolutely not required and you can wait on this and see how easy/hard it is to load your magazines before getting one.

If you have a range near you that lets you rent guns, that’s the best way because you can try a few and see what you like. However, be warned, some places won’t let you rent if you go alone because too many people have committed suicide that way so before you go, check their policy on that, sometimes you just have to bring a friend.

As for what gun, there are a lot of really good ones out there. Expect to pay about $400-$500, unless you can find a good deal on a used gun. (some places will have police trade ins which can be had for cheaper) If you can find a local gun store that is LGBTQ+ friendly, that’s where I’d go to buy it (which might be easier than you might think if you’re in a blue state) but before you go, you can browse around sites like https://www.gunbroker.com/ or https://www.armslist.com/ to get an idea of what might be available and about what the prices are currently. If you wanted to order from an online site, you’d still need a FFL so finding a good local dealer is still important.

I’d recommend 9mm, it’s a good balance of stopping power, and being able to hold a reasonable number of rounds without being too heavy. Also I’d recommend a Semi-Auto over a revolver, they hold more rounds, are easier to reload (with extra magazines) and if you get a decent one, are generally just as reliable. Glock has already been mentioned and they are certainly a good brand but I’d also look at Smith and Wesson (S&W) (specifically their m&p line), Ruger and Walther. There are other good brands as well, but I’d start there. On the upper end, if you wanted to spend a little more, I’d also take a look at Sig and Heckler and Koch (H&K).

Finally, I’d recommend getting some training. ESPECIALLY if you are going to conceal carry but also if you are just looking for home defense. I’d recommend starting with https://www.pinkpistols.org/ and see if there’s a chapter near you but you should have some option.

Live the 4 rules: https://www.corneredcat.com/article/firearms-safety/the-four-rules/ and get out and practice!!!

He flared the wrong way… he was supposed to bring the nose of the plane up, but he got it confused with the wing.

https://archive.is/J31rj

Tori Amos commented on the allegations:

And if the allegations are true, that’s not the Neil that I knew, that’s not the friend that I knew, nor a friend that I ever want to know. So in some ways it’s a heartbreaking grief. I never saw that side of Neil. Neither did my crew. And my crew has seen a lot.

Gaiman is the godfather to one of her kids and apparently she was pretty close to him. If she didn’t know, I feel like Terry Pratchett wouldn’t have known either. This isn’t like with Epstein where association implies knowledge of what was going on. After reading all that I have on the allegations, I’m comfortable believing that Pratchett wouldn’t have known anything about the alleged sexual assault and if he knew anything, it was that Gaiman was known to sleep around… consensually… with adults. (Because apparently this seems to be known among people close to him… including that he and Palmer allegedly had an open marriage)

So unless further info comes out that indicates otherwise, I will continue to enjoy Pratchett’s works.

Freeze your grapes… wash them and pull them off the stem and lay them on a baking sheed in the freezer. Grapes will last longer and they taste good frozen.